A strategic SERP plan can have huge implications for website traffic. Read on to find out what you need to get a featured snippet on Google so you can sit back and watch the traffic roll in.

What is a SERP Plan and Why do I Need it?

When you Google something, the SERPs are what appears. SERP is an industry acronym that traditionally stands for ‘Search Engine Ranking Page’. As in, if you’re on the first page of Google, you’re ‘SERP 1’. But in recent years the acronym has morphed in colloquial usage to also stand for ‘Search Engine Ranking Position’. As in, if you’re first on the first page of Google, you’re at SERP 1. If you’re third on the first page, you’re SERP 3, etc. So when you read an SEO article and someone mentions SERP or SERPs, they could be referring to either or both.

Google – the Overlords of Search

Google, in their infinite wisdom as the overlords of search, determine which sites will appear at the top of a search query in order (theoretically) to provide the best value for searchers, by giving them the sites that best meet their search criteria or best answer their question. So naturally you'll increase your site traffic if you can create a SERP plan to master your Google rankings.

But what does a strategic SERP plan look like? Good question. Let me break it down for you to help you create a great SERP plan that drives traffic to your site by providing Google with exactly what it's looking for.

Understanding SERPs

Before devising an effective SERP plan, it helps to know more about SERPs themselves. SERPs are always unique. If two users type two queries into the same search engine using the same keywords, they will get different results. This happens because Google customises SERPs for users in order to provide them the most useful results. Each SERP is unique because of factors like a searcher's location, browsing history, and more. Even if the two pages look the same at first glance, there will likely be small differences according to the different user metrics.

In order to provide the best value to users, Google is always changing the way SERPs appear. It's important to stay up to date on the latest algorithms and experiments Google is conducting, so you can modify your SERP plan accordingly. Of course that’s easier said than done, and is where having a company like SEO North Sydney on your team comes in mighty handy, because we’re 24/7 at this SEO caper; and with Google updating 500-600 algorithms a year (that’s 1.6 algorithmic updates per day if you’re trying to do the math!), to say it’s a full time job to stay ahead of the Google Bell-curve is in no way an exaggeration.

Creating a Strategic SERP Plan

Ultimately the key to a strategic SERP plan – indeed the very bedrock of a comprehensive web strategy - lies is providing searchers with valuable content that answers their search query.

If you can figure out the intent of searchers and devise a way to provide them with what they're looking for, Google will bump your site up on the SERPs.

Due to algorithms like Penguin, sites can no longer "trick" Google by doing things like keyword-stuffing or using dodgy links out of India or Serbia or Russia or wherever. And longer, more informative content is now prioritised by Google over shorter, less informative posts.

These changes mean that your SERP plan should focus in on giving searchers content of value, instead of trying to use tricks and workarounds to fool Google. Put what the customer wants first, as the old saying goes, and the sales will follow.

Google of course don’t make any money from organic search. They make money from the ads they place on the same page as organic search. Which makes it that much harder to get the phone to ring for small businesses and SMEs operating on a tight marketing budget. Doubly so when you realise that there are now four paid ads that appear at the top of the page rather than to the right of the page (where they used to appear before) which push the first organic listing down the page.

So given all this, how do you approach SERPs in a way that will both please Google and beat the competition?One of the best ways is by getting what is know as a ‘Featured Snippet’.

Featured Snippets – What You Need to Know

You've probably already seen featured snippets on your own Google searches. These appear in a box at the top of the search results page. Featured snippets take a summary of the answer to the searcher's query directly from the webpage.

Users will also see a link to the page, the page's title and the URL along with the snippet. According to Google, "The summary is a snippet extracted programmatically from what a visitor sees on your web page."

A user is much more likely to pay more attention to content with a featured snippet than to content without one. Results with featured snippets are at the top of the page, and they also provide users with a hint that this page will definitely have the information they’re looking for.

How Do I Get a Featured Snippet?

To get your site at the top of the page with a snippet attached, use these simple steps.

1. Figure out a question

You'll want to start by finding a straightforward question that searchers in your market area are likely to ask. This question should be simple and clear, not complex or ambiguous.

2. Provide an answer

Somewhere on your site – ideally on its own page - make sure that question is answered clearly and directly.

3. Give value to users

It's not enough to just answer the question of course. Your site should also give information beyond a simple answer, so that users will gain something semantically relevant to their initial query. Keep in mind that Google prioritises longer content than it did before. So don’t skimp when hiring an SEO Copywriter. Because great content is, and always will be, the most important piece of the Google puzzle.

4. Make the information easy to find

Your answer and additional information related to the answer, should be easy to find on your site, not buried somewhere behind lots of other posts. Make it easy for both bots and humans to find.

Choosing the Right Questions

Getting a featured snippet isn’t easy. But neither is it rocket science. Great organic content, tailored to searchers questions/queries, can drive a lot of traffic to your website. And the four-step approach described above is easy to do and easy to repeat. Don't stick with answering one question. Research and find out multiple questions that might be asked about your product or service. Then work on creating content that answers each of those questions, in addition to providing helpful additional information in each post.

In order to target the right questions, long-tail keywords must become your best friend. Post the launch of Google’s ‘Hummingbird’ algorithm, we know that over 60% of all search is long-tail. So don't just target general keywords: target the full question, including the "how to," "how does," or "what is" that many users type in the Google's search bar.

Narrowing down user queries via comprehensive research helps you on your way to getting a featured snippet. Not sure where to start? Type in a question users might have into Google. You'll see other, related queries that people have searched for, ‘suggested’ by Google via an instant dropdown menu. Ultimately though, as my late sainted mum used to say, ‘Use the brain that God gave you’ and you’ll soon figure out what questions people are asking. After all, you know your business, your products, your services, better than anybody else. You’ve been client facing long enough to know what sort of curly questions customers ask. So write them down in a long list. Then hire a professional copywriter to write content for each page that answers the questions you’ve come up with – IN DETAIL.

Once you’ve exhausted your own ideas on what questions your customers are asking, it’s time to enlist some algorithmic help. There are many programs that can help with this part of the process, but one I like is answerthepublic.com; which is a nifty (free) tool that suggests possible questions based on a keyword, using a cool visualisation tool.

Conclusion

Ultimately, your chances of getting a featured snippet depend on a few key factors:

Are you asking the right questions? A bit of research, as discussed above, can help ensure that you are.

Are you providing the best answers to those questions? The more clear, straightforward, and accurate your answer is, and the more additional information (related to the question) you provide, the more likely it will be the one that Google will choose to feature your answer as a featured snippet.

Finally, you must make sure that you are providing content that is genuinely useful. If you write 50 blog posts of 50 words each that all provide one answer to a commonly asked question, you won't do well on the SERP. Don’t look for cheap shortcuts. Long, well written, and informative content wins out every time.

When all is said and done, users want content that is high quality and detailed, covering everything they might want to know that's related to their question. Because it's all about value. Provide users with valuable, interesting answers to their questions, and Google will reward you.

Contact SEO North Sydney

Looking for help getting to the top of Google? Then call SEO North Sydney today. The longer you delay, the more of your business your competitors get. And where’s the sense in that?www.seonorthsydney.com.au/

​There’s an old saying in business that goes: “It’s 80% harder to get a new customer, than it is to get an existing customer to come back.” And while we all want to get as many new visitors to our ecommerce website as we can (as sales is a numbers game), it behoves anyone running an ecommerce store, to encourage multiple visits from everyone who comes to their site. To do this we need to optimise our online shop’s buying funnel to get more out of each visitor we get.

Here are a few sage pointers to help you do just this:

Google Analytics – the Devil’s in the Detail

Have you ever seen in a basketball game when a shot goes halfway down the basket, only for the ball to spin around and (seemingly against the laws of physics!) pop out again?

Well that's a feeling we online marketers are all too familiar with. Because nothing's more heartbreaking than checking our Google analytic data and seeing that a potential customer came to our site, loaded up their shopping cart…only to leave empty-handed.

Don't get discouraged by this, though, as only 2% of visitors make a purchase on their first trip to an ecommerce website. It's how you bring back the other 98% that makes the difference.

What is the "Buying Funnel?"

The buying funnel is the journey prospective buyers go on when they buy something. The further down the funnel they go, the closer they are to making a purchase.

The buying funnel has four stages:

Awareness: the prospect is aware he or she has a problem or requirement.

Education: the prospect is conducting research and gathering information on potential solutions/options.

Evaluation: the prospect narrows down his or her options.

Decision: after weighing all the options, the prospect makes a decision and follows through by making a purchase.

Sometimes the trip down the funnel takes only a few moments. I know if I want to buy the new Neil Gaiman novel, I go to Amazon.com, type in the title or the name of the author, and hey-presto, my purchase is completed. But some purchases require more care. Buying a house or a car for example can take many months.

A common trap marketers fall into is having a lack of regard for the buyer's journey. Like the gigolo who wants to take that woman he’s only just met at the bar five minutes before back to his place, without all that tedious, ‘Can I buy you a drink?’ and actually getting to know her, palaver; marketers want to skip ahead and go right to the sale instead of nurturing the buyer through the process. Understanding where the buyer is and will go on their buying journey will help you optimise your website to reduce bounce rates, keep your prospects wanting more, and nail down that purchase.

The First Step in E-Commerce is Being Found

Before you can bring prospects back for multiple visits and turn that traffic into conversions, you'll naturally need to get that first visit taken care of.

Prospects will already be at the Awareness stage in the sales funnel before they visit your website. That's the whole reason they’re searching on the web in the first place. They know they have a problem and are looking for solutions. You of course need to be found when the would-be customer is searching for what you sell, online. And that comes down to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Okay let’s imagine you’ve been running a successful SEO and/or SEM strategy, and the customer finds you website link, while conducting a search online. What then? Because when someone does come to your website, you need to be prepared to guide them past the Awareness stage and through the rest of the buying funnel. As you'll never get the prospect to the Decision stage if you don't lead them through the Education and Evaluation stage.

Right Now Your Product Doesn’t Matter to the Customer

Before they even lay eyes on your product page, you'll need to give the prospective customer complementary, brilliantly written content that helps satisfy their search query. And from there you need to lay the trail of breadcrumbs to lead them to their final (buying) destination.

Brilliantly Written Content is King

The prospects are hungry for information. That’s why they’re there after all. So help them jump from the Awareness stage to the Education stage.

Give Them Answers and Solutions - Not a Sales Pitch

At this point you're no longer an internet marketer. You're a professor. You're an authoritative source for the topic the prospective customer is researching. Therefore your content needs to offer solutions/options to satisfy/answer the questions or requirements the prospect has. After all, you've created a website that offers them what they’re looking for. You just have to help them come to that realisation!

Here's the tricky part though: you can't at this stage, focus on your product. Because the prospect isn't on your website to read a glorified ad. They're on your website looking for information that satisfies their needs or answers their questions. So talk (via your content) about the core of the issue at hand and the desired end result, not about the product that will get them there. The reader doesn't want to buy (for example) a frying pan; they want to fry up some delicious chicken. They just need a new non-stick frying pan in order to do this.

So show the prostpect what they need to do to solve their problem. Think of Benefits rather than Features. Yes your product is great. Yes they’d love it if they bought it. But if you want them to get buy you need to help them through the buying funnel so they realise all this.

Selling Your Stuff

Now that the prospect is armed with a new knowledge and understanding of how your product can solve their needs, they will need to evaluate their options. Don't be surprised at this stage if the prospect leaves your website…only to come back and buy at a later date. Responsible buyers will want to do due diligence and compare products. It’s only natural. You do and I do it. So expect them to do it too.

When they do end up back on your product page, it's time to do what you've been waiting to do all along: Sell your stuff.

The prospect is now informed and actively engaged with what you’re selling. They have specific questions about product details and features. They're looking at prices, warranties, and shipping information. So give them what they need in a well-designed product page overflowing with brilliantly written words, professionally shot pictures and (ideally) classy high-end videos.

Getting the UX Right

The UX (User eXperience) is super important if you have an ecommerce store.

Is information accessible and easy to understand? Does the website look great on both desktop and mobile devices? Is the website quick and responsive? Is checkout simple, yet secure? If not, you could once again lose a sale despite your hard work. 74% of online shopping carts were abandoned by shoppers. So make sure your website is user-friendly and looks the part. Having a cheap looking ecommerce store is like a salesman wearing a cheap suit. Neither engenders trust in the prospective buyer.

The End Game

So build a great website. Simplify the checkout to make it easy for prospects to buy what they’re looking for. Populate the website with great written content, quality product shots, and informative videos. Hire an SEO company to get your website on the first page of Google, and to run a competitive SEM campaign across multiple channels (so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket). Then sit back and wait for the money to start rolling in!

Beyond the End Game – it’s All in the Follow-up

If you've optimised the buying funnel as described above, you're well on your way to converting the prospect into a sale. However the buyer's journey doesn't stop at the sale. To really get the most out of each visitor to your website, you want to keep up the relationship after the cheque is cashed.

Your company's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy is vital to making all your work efficient and worthwhile in the long haul. So build your database, then email them regularly with special offers, and great content on the topics that interest them. This way your company’s brand will be top of mind whenever they’re looking for what your ecommerce shop sells.

Let Us Help

​A consumer's buying funnel will never involve your business if they never get to your website in the first place.SEO North Sydney is a leading Australian agency that offers SEO and SEM/PPC services perfect for small to medium sized businesses, just like yours. So Contact us for a no-obligation quote or confidential discussion.

Author

Brian M Logan is an on-line marketing, SEO and copywriting expert with over 15 years' experience in the web and over 20 years' experience with the written word.

This blog is primarily designed for entrepreneurs and business owners, with a specific focus on helping Small Businesses and SMEs gain greater market share via online search strategies. Without breaking the bank.

As a screenwriter and novelist repped out of Hollywood by one of the world's 'Big 3' agencies, Brian also adds the occasional creative writing sample to this blog (when the mood strikes him), by way of a change of pace.